Speaking to the Official Site following the 1-0 win, Lambert said firstly of Benteke:

'Christian has been excellent. You run out of things to say about the big guy. He's a fan favourite! His general game is outstanding, he has been brilliant, excellent, superb. He might not hit his peak till his late 20s, but he's played ever so well. He's developing his whole demeanour, he's growing up. Remember he's only young but he's a strong lad with good ability too.'

Moving on from the Bentekkers praise, he added that he was delighted with the teams nerve to hold out for the victory when Reading inevitably put pressure on looking for an equiliser - I still say we could've added a second and looked more dangerous even then:

'You have to keep your nerve, they did that. Credit to the back four too. Nathan has not played for a while, Enda came off, we put Eric on, but we withstood it. I was impressed with the spirit of the team - full credit to them for keeping on going. We always looked a threat.'

In the rest of the interview Lambert kept on picking out certain players, like Brett Holman and Stevie Ireland's impact when he came on but ultimately it's a night to be happy with the three points, so you can hardly blame him.

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Have to say,for such a young back 4.........credit to them,seen Vlaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr was out and thought ..gulp...........fecked up a couple of times but got away with it........thank the Lord Paul.........

update on Bent - its a little confusing but having looked at his appearance records for Villa its at or around 50 games in all competitions. From the snippets I have seen on other player contracts with this sort of app-related "add on" clause...the milestones are usually obvious no.s ie 25 apps, 50 apps. Not 17.5 apps, for example. Also 22 goals. So if he comes on and scores a hat trick we re skint.

V depressing take on the state of football, malacaxeta, but probably all too accurate. If this truly is dictating whether he plays or not, it's sad and pathetic. A bizarre way to run a club or a sport.

Benty's involvement isn't much of a concern to me, if we need to get shot of him for financial sustainability then so be it. After last night's performance the obvious problem for me is defending set pieces! Lucky not to concede from several of their set plays yesterday...

Two bad teams last night and we shaded it. I think back fondly to previous Villa teams we thought of as 'ordinary' and wish we have some of those players now. QPR next - Have we EVER beaten a Harry Rednapp side? Can't remember doing so...

Lambert doesn't have a problem with Bent? Ok then Martin O'Neill didn't have a problem with Reo-Coker and Abramovich doesn't have influence over team selection at Chelsea :-) There is a problem but this seems to be a case of bloody mindedness from Lambert. The main issue here is the only clubs who will be willing to pay enough for the transfer to be feasible in January are likely to be those vying with us for survival. If he goes to QPR (as has been suggested), coupled with Melty Face Redknapp taking the reigns, I can see him scoring the goals that send us down. People who put grudges and pride over what is right? Is Bowery or Bent more likely to grab a goal in a tight match?